The Myeloma Beacon™
Independent, up-to-date news and information for multiple myeloma patients and their families.
I want to thank all of the readers who took the time to pass along helpful tips for staying positive last week.
Keeping a positive attitude in the face of a cancer diagnosis and treatment isn’t easy. But a positive attitude is the cornerstone of improving any patient’s quality of life during treatment.
Enough with the general, philosophical stuff! Here are a few practical suggestions to help multiple myeloma patients and caregivers make it through their day:
Keep moving. Go for a walk. Stretch for ten minutes. Swim. Roll your…
The results of a recent study suggest that although the chromosomal abnormalities t(4;14) and del(17p) are associated with poor prognoses in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients, Velcade-dexamethasone therapy improved survival among patients with t(4;14) compared to treatment with vincristine, doxorubicin, and dexamethasone.
However, patients with the t(4;14) abnormality did not respond as well to Velcade and dexamethasone as patients without the abnormality. Patients with del(17p) did not show the same improvements when treated with Velcade-dexamethasone.
The presence of chromosomal abnormalities in the plasma cells of multiple myeloma patients is associated…
Kay Cromie was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2003 and is a firm believer that every myeloma patient needs to be their own advocate.
“It’s important to know enough about the disease so that when you start treatments, you can track your progress…Some people say their doctor will tell them everything they need to know, but you have to be your own advocate,” said Cromie.
Based on her own experiences with myeloma as well as experiences of other myeloma patients, she has developed a set of tips for being your…
Results of a recent study suggest that etoposide used in combination with G-CSF is a safe and effective mobilization strategy prior to stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma patients. The combination treatment resulted in a high stem cell harvest after one day of collection in most patients.
Stem cell mobilization is the process of increasing the number hematopoietic (blood forming) stem cells in the circulating blood to ensure that enough are available to be collected for the transplant. Hematopoietic stem cells are primarily found in the bone marrow and circulate…
A Phase 2 trial of Hycamtin, cyclophosphamide, and melphalan showed that the drug combination is a safe and effective treatment regimen for patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma or patients in first remission. The combination, followed by stem cell transplantation, resulted in an overall response rate of 85 percent and a four-year overall survival rate of 66 percent, making this drug combination comparable in efficacy to treatment with melphalan alone.
High-dose melphalan (Alkeran) is the standard conditioning treatment for multiple myeloma patients who will receive an autologous stem…